Even Republicans are giving up gay-bashing. But, as always, and to paraphrase Rob Christensen, paradox rules North Carolina politics.

In the last 10 years, North Carolina went from a Republican Senator, Jesse Helms, who bashed “queers” and “the homosexual lobby” to a Republican Senator, Richard Burr, who surprised people by voting to abolish Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.

But then Republican Mecklenburg County Commissioner Bill James howled in an email to his board colleagues that gays are “sexual predators.”

Burr’s vote is the truer sign of where society is headed. To the extent that Republicans remain reflexively anti-gay – and try to ban gay marriage – they’re out of touch with society at large. And that attitude is an anchor on their growth.

The gap between Helms and Burr shows how much North Carolina has changed. There are two explanations: the 1.5 million new people who showed up here in the last decade and society’s growing awareness and acceptance of gays.

Burr, like so many of us, probably has come to know a number of gay people – and found that they aren’t perverts or predators.

His explanation was refreshing and revealing. According to the National Review, which struggled to understand, Burr told reporters:

“This is a policy that is generationally right. A majority of Americans have grown up at a time [when] they don’t think exclusion is the right thing for the United States to do. It’s not the accepted practice anywhere else in our society, and it only makes sense.”

Is the Republican Party trying to "ban gay marriage?" I'm not aware of any bills introduced here or in Washington that would "ban" gay marriage. If you or any other reader know of any, I'd appreciate you letting me know, as I plan to attend one this summer.

Obama's stance on gay marriage was a calculated lie, as everyone (except a few gullible independents and centrists) knew very well. Leftists pretended not to notice it, and newspaper editors pretended to believe it, but it was clear from the start that once elected he would fall in line with the left-wing's agenda on the issue.

As a former infantryman I have no problem with allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly in the armed forces, provided that they are held to the same standard of behavior as everyone else--their sexual conduct should never be allowed to interfere with the performance of their duties or the overall functioning of the unit to which they are assigned. Like everything else in the military, it's mission first, personal considerations second.

One other thing--this argument has nothing to do with "rights." No one has a "right" to serve in the armed forces.